


let me play among the stars

by wordsxstars



Series: The Stevetony Playlist [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Fluff, I was in a good mood what can I say, M/M, Mutual Pining, No Angst, Not Canon Compliant, basically just cute dancing fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-29
Updated: 2019-12-29
Packaged: 2021-02-19 10:55:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22009855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wordsxstars/pseuds/wordsxstars
Summary: Everything seems to make Tony smile or laugh, whether that’s a new invention, one of Rhodey’s jokes, or Steve.He always seems to have that look of soft, almost contemplative amusement on his features when he looks at Steve, like he knows he’s supposed to be smiling, but can’t quite work out why.or: do want to dance the night away?
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Series: The Stevetony Playlist [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1596886
Comments: 10
Kudos: 85





	let me play among the stars

**Author's Note:**

> hi so I wrote this on a long flight while feeling very tired so excuse any mistakes but hope you enjoy :)

Steve still isn’t sure how they got onto the subject of dancing, but they’re here now, and Tony is leaning against one of the kitchen surfaces, glass of water in one hand. Steve watches as he reaches into the cupboard with the other, grabbing one of Nat’s secret stash of cookies that she keeps hidden. 

“You can’t dance.” Tony says, fond amusement faltering for a second to give way to surprise. It’s not rude, just curious. A little incredulous, but not rude. Not judgemental. Tony rarely is judgemental, no matter how many times the tabloids say otherwise. 

Tony offers him a cookie with a grin, and Steve wonders when the billionaire had figured out all of Nat’s food hiding places. He smiles a little at the thought of Tony looking for the cookies, but shakes his head at the offer. Not hungry this early in the morning. 

“No.” Steve says instead, an embarrassed smile ghosting his lips. “I mean, I used to be able to. I can a bit, probably. But then I sort of started fighting Nazis, and dancing was uh… less of a priority.”

Tony narrows his eyes, placing his glass of water on the spotless island, assessing Steve, lips curling into a smile that not many people see. It’s small, quiet. Real. 

“Well Cap, it’s a good job you have a teacher.”

“I-” Steve blinks, glancing between Tony and the clock above the door that reads 1am. “What?”

Tony lifts a shoulder, sliding his hands into his pockets. He’s in sweatpants and a t shirt, and even though it’s not the first time Steve has seen him out of the formal suits that do _wonders_ for his ass, it’s rare enough to make him smile. 

It makes his chest ache with longing, to see Tony like this. He looks relaxed, happy, his curls that are usually so perfectly gelled still messy from sleep. Steve forces himself to focus. 

“It’s good. To be able to dance, I mean. You should learn, and if there’s one thing I can do, it’s dance.”

He hadn’t meant to run into Tony at this time of the morning, it had just… happened. He’d heard the billionaire walk past his room, he had only been half asleep anyway. Usually, he’d roll over and go back to sleep. And yet, he hadn’t been able to walk away this time, so he had found himself dressing in jeans and a t shirt, and making his way downstairs to the kitchen. 

Tony’s lips quirk into a smile, the gentle amusement back. Everything seems to make Tony smile or laugh, whether that’s a new invention, one of Rhodey’s jokes, or Steve. He always seems to have that look of soft, almost contemplative amusement on his features when he looks at Steve, like he knows he’s supposed to be smiling, but can’t quite work out why.

“Cap?”

He blinks, tuning back in, and realises with a sort of intense mortification that he’s been staring at Tony for a few seconds in silence. 

He clears his throat, trying for a smile. “Yeah. Sorry. Um, that would be amazing, but don’t you have things to-”

“Nope.” Tony grins, and it’s something so _wild_ , and yet so innocent at the same time. He grabs Steve’s hand, eyes bright. “I have absolutely nothing better to do than this.”

Steve feels his breath hitch, and tries to ignore the fact that Tony is holding his hand. Tony, who he’s been achingly, desperately in love with for the best part of two years. Tony, who’s only ever taken women to bed, who he doesn’t think has ever been interested in men. Tony, who’s his friend and nothing more. Tony, who has no clue how Steve feels about him. 

Tony, who wants to dance with him at one in the morning. 

_God_ , his hand is so _warm_. 

Tony smiles at him, and it’s bright and warm and so _Tony_ , that Steve feels himself grinning back. Soft jazz starts to filter in through the speakers in the room. It’s _fly me to the moon_ by Frank Sinatra. He wonders if it’s a mistake that Tony is playing his favourite song. Probably. Maybe it’s nothing. 

Maybe it’s something. 

Steve jumps slightly as Tony pulls him close, and the genius raises his eyebrows, smile gentle and a little teasing.

“You okay?”

Steve nods, not trusting himself to speak as Tony’s hand finds his waist, accidentally brushing over a bit of exposed skin. He doesn’t think he could form a sentence now, even if he wanted to. All he can feel is Tony. Tony’s hand on his waist, Tony’s fingers touching his, Tony’s eyes glittering with a secret amusement, like he knows something Steve doesn’t. 

He tenses as Tony takes the first steps, leading him into the dance. 

“I don’t want to screw it up-”

“Just relax sweetheart.” Tony says, lips far too close to his. A shiver runs down his spine and it’s not from the cold. “Follow me, the rest will come. Muscle memory is a lifesaver.”

He nods, swallowing hard, and tries to relax, letting himself fall into the simple stepping rhythm as Tony leads him across the smooth tiles of the kitchen. He ignores how the way Tony had said _sweetheart_ is making him feel a little lightheaded, because he loves him, but this is Tony Stark, and Steve knows that he flirts with pretty much everything that breathes. It’s not personal. It’s _not_. 

_God_ , he needs to stop staring at his lips. 

“You’re good at so many things, you know.” Steve finally says when he trusts his voice, clearing his throat a little, glancing at the floor again to check he’s not about to break Tony’s toes. But the dancing is coming back to him now, from what little he’d done before and during the war. No professional… but enough. 

Tony’s brows furrow a little as he looks up, and Steve wants to kiss him so fucking badly it hurts. 

“What?”

He blushes, because only he would manage to embarrass himself by coming out with something so _random_. 

“I mean.” he says, trying to save at least some sort of dignity. Tony is so collected, so smooth, so good at everything he does, so perfect when it comes to persuasion, conversation, making Steve fall more in love every time he sees him. “I mean earlier, you said _if there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s dancing._ I just… you’re good at a hell of a lot of things.”

Tony smiles, and it’s gentle, the amusement a little faded now, but the softness is still there. 

“Thank you. It is sort of my job though.”

“I know, I just-” he hesitates, but then pushes on because does he really have anything to lose? “Your designs, what you build, the way your brain works. I love it.”

 _I love you_ , he wants to say, but swallows down the words. Tony looks… surprised. Happy. But surprised. He gives Steve another smile, a little unsure maybe, but pleased. 

“I’m glad you like it so much.” He says quietly, and Steve realises that they’ve finished the song, and it’s immediately started to repeat. The lyrics start for the second time, and Steve feels himself relax. 

_Let me play among the stars_

He blinks back a sudden sting of tears, because Jesus, he doesn’t need to cry about it, but this song, and the fact that Tony is so close but so far-

Steve shifts backwards, twirling Tony, and something in him feels so _happy_ as the billionaires eyes light with laughter, the bright sound echoing through the kitchen. He loves how Tony laughs, it’s shameless, not dampened by worrying about what anyone might think. There’s no sense of self consciousness, it’s just pure _light_. 

“Well Rogers, I didn’t know you had it in you. You were hiding a secret talent it seems.”

He should have stopped loving Tony Stark years ago, but it’s too late now. He couldn’t then, he can’t now. He isn’t sure he’ll ever be able to. 

“Maybe I’m just full of surprises.” Steve says softly, because this song is a soft song, and Tony’s hand on his waist is gentle, and he thinks he’s imagining it, but it feels like Tony’s thumb is brushing over his palm. 

Tony laughs quietly, leaning against Steve, and he feels his heart stutter in his chest. 

I _n other words, hold my hand_

“Maybe you are.” Tony says, barely louder than a whisper, and Steve can feel his breath tickling his neck where he’s tucked against him. Tony is the perfect size for dancing, small enough that he just _fits_ with him, his head shifting to rest against Steve’s chest. 

Steve is used to loud, used to fighting and shouting orders and surviving on the battlefield. Everything is hard, sharp edges and the knowledge of saving lives. He hasn’t had anything soft in a while. 

Tony Stark is soft. He’s soft but solid, a constant, so quiet and gentle in his arms. 

Tony is soft even though he’s iron man, because the suit is the mask, but the man underneath… Steve is terrified of breaking him, even though he would die before he hurts him. He’s never been this close to anyone and felt like he does now. But he would throw away anything, _everything_ , just to hear Tony laugh like that again. 

_In other words, baby kiss me._

Steve feels Tony’s smile against his skin, and looks down to see his lips curving upwards. 

“You’re happy.” Steve says quietly, and Tony lifts his head, eyes bright. 

“Yeah Cap.” He says, and it sounds a little rough, a little imperfect. It’s still Tony, the voice, the eyes, the light on his face, his steady warmth that’s sleeping into Steve’s bones. “I’m happy.”

“Why?” He dares to ask, because Tony can say whatever he wants, and he’s not really sure what he’s asking him to say, but it somehow feels so very important. 

_Fill my heart with song._

“I’m with you.” Tony says, voice curling around the words as he smiles, and it’s not a camera smile, it’s not a flirting smile, it’s a real one. It’s honest. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

_You are all I long for-_

Steve’s breath caught in his chest long ago, but as he looks down at Tony now, he can’t seem to look away again. 

“I-” Steve starts, heart beating fast, fast enough for the genius to feel it.

Tony kisses him. 

He tastes like coming home.

Tony’s lips are a little chapped, but still soft, warm. Steve can taste something sweet, maybe from the cookies earlier. He wants to stay kissing Tony Stark forever. 

“Steve.” Tony whispers against his skin, and it’s the first time he’s called him anything other than cap or captain or Rogers, and it makes his heart skip a beat in his chest. 

He pulls him closer, hands coming up to cup his face, and he just touches him because he can, dragging a thumb along the curve of his cheekbones, memorising every line of his face with his fingers, and then with his lips. 

Slowly, so slowly, they pull away. Steve is breathless, heart pounding, eyes wide. Tony opens his mouth, moving back a little bit, and his stomach drops because Tony looks scared, worried. 

_In other words, I love you-_

“Steve-”

Tony makes him brave. 

“I’m in love with you.” Steve blurts out, cutting off whatever he had been about to say. “I’m in love with you. So if you’re about to apologise for kissing me, please don’t.”

Tony is staring at him, and the dim lights of the kitchen are reflecting in his eyes, turning them to molten gold, bringing out the colours that Steve could spend hours looking at, spend hours painting. 

“You- you’re what?”

Steve swallows hard, letting his hands drop. Too late now. The song comes to a close, and for a long moment, there’s only silence. 

“I love you.” He says into the quiet, because Tony makes him brave, and Tony makes him smile, and Tony- “I’ve loved you for years.”

When Steve looks at him again, Tony is smiling like he’s never going to stop, and Steve would do anything, give anything, to see that smile every day, the smile that looks like it’s been lit by the fucking sun. 

“You love me.” Tony says again, quiet and disbelieving. Steve leans down and kisses him again because how can he not, and then again. 

“Yes. I love you. So fucking much.”

“Language.” Tony murmurs against his lips, melting into his arms. 

Steve laughs, closing his eyes and tugging Tony against him. The next song in the album starts to play, and Steve smiles, just breathing. Frank Sinatra again. Steve knows that it was on purpose now, because it’s Tony. Of course it was on purpose. 

_I will feel a glow just thinking of you, and the way you look tonight._

“You remembered.” Steve says quietly as Frank Sinatra sings, and some restless part of him that had never known what it’s like to have Tony Stark in his arms settles into sleep. 

He thinks back to the conversation. It had been a night like this, only a few weeks after they had met. Tony had drunk a little too much, making him relaxed, flirty, and curious. He’d asked Steve’s favourite music. Steve had said anything by Frank Sinatra, because he didn’t think Tony would be someone to judge music taste. He had been right. The genius had just smiled at him, eyes soft. 

“Of course I did baby.” Tony whispers, lips ghosting his neck, and he feels a flash of warmth through his whole body

_Yes you’re lovely, never ever change, keep that breathless charm-_

“Steve?”

“Yeah?” He says quietly, eyes still closed. 

There’s a second of silence, and then he feels rather than sees Tony smile.

_Cause I love you, the way you look tonight._

“I love you.” Tony says, and Steve’s grip on his waist tightens a little as he opens his eyes. 

“You don’t have to-”

Tony kisses him again, then pulls away and smiles. The soft musement is there, but the secretive part… it’s no longer a secret. It’s written all over his face. The unreadable thing in his eyes is now so clear that it’s almost tangible, and Steve feels his heart in his throat as Tony takes his hand, winding their fingers together. 

“I love you. I’ve been in love with you for the best part of two years, ever since you told me that you like jazz and smiled at me with those beautiful, beautiful, stupidly irresistibly blue eyes. So don’t insult me by not believing me.”

Steve isn’t sure he’s breathing anymore, never wants to do anything else again other than hold Tony, be with Tony, _kiss_ Tony. 

“I love you.” Steve says again, because he wants to say it a thousand times. “God I love you.”

Tony whispers it back to him, over and over again as the music plays on, and then kisses him hard, relaxing into his arms. 

_I love you, I love you, I love you._

_Home_ , his mind says, his body says. _This is home._

Steve kisses Tony again, hands tangling in his hair. Then he closes his eyes, and lets the rest of the world fall away. 

**Author's Note:**

> you can find me on tumblr [here](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/wordsxstars)


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